Bernie Ecclestone has put a brave face on the possibility of a spell in a
German prison, saying: "I will have to deal with it".

Formula One's commercial rights holder is waiting to hear if he will be charged in a corruption case in Munich in which the prosecution allege Ecclestone was paid a $44 million bribe to a German banker to persuade him to undervalue Formula One shares.

Mr Ecclestone said he would "defend our position in court".

“I am not guilty of anything except being got at," he told The Times. "But if I get sent to jail, I will have to deal with it.

"I don’t think I will like it very much. But you have to get on with things.”

Last year former banker Gerhard Gribkowsky was jailed for eight and a half years for taking £28 million in what he claimed were bribes from Ecclestone.